The ‘New Normal’ – Hygiene Expectations Post Coronavirus

It is no secret that this pandemic will cause and is causing a paradigm shift in many sectors, businesses and even economies. This situation is unprecedented – the global economy has never stood still, simultaneously, ever before.

The good news, coronaviruses grasp on the world is limited. It is only a matter of time until we break free and things return to normal… or do they?

It seems with lockdowns in place, every country is on a different timeline for ‘normal’. In Australia not only are we lucky to face fewer challenges than many 3rd world countries, but we have managed to potentially set ourselves up for a quicker return to ‘normal’ than most.

However, it is unlikely that the ramifications of such a challenging event will not see a slew of new expectations arise regarding hygiene and cleanliness. Especially in the immediate future of the recovery phase. Which will be drawn out until every country has completely beaten coronavirus – because in the case of a very contagious virus, we are only as strong as our weakest link.

Amenities cleanliness crackdown: It is common knowledge at current that amenities are high touch areas and therefore high-risk regarding COVID-19. Therefore, tighter restrictions will likely be put in place to ensure the cleanliness of amenities.

Personal hygiene practices: Perhaps one of the biggest lessons that will come out of the Coronavirus will be just how effective good hygiene and following basic hygiene principles can be. Examples include, frequency of washing/sanitising hands will likely increase and the emphasis of implementing and following site-specific safety protocols will be more of higher importance than ever before.

Wellness checks: It is extremely likely that in the immediate wake of attempting to return to normal that all workers in high-risk environments such as food processing facilities will have their temperatures tested before being allowed to enter the site. This is important and having healthy workers will be paramount for the site. In addition, the employee will likely need a return to work form signed off by a qualified doctor.

Supply chain changes: As Australia recovers and other country’s lag, challenges will continue to arise for food & beverage manufacturers that are centred around exports / B2B (out-of-house) sales. The recovery will likely be a ‘slow burn’… On the bright side, this will eventually pick up again in the future.

Hygiene specialists: Currently, a lot of food/beverage manufactures opt to clean in-house. In the past on some levels, it has made sense – It is the lowest cost option, using your own employees from production to work overtime. However, given the current developments, everything will be under the microscope, near enough will be no longer acceptable. There will be external pressure to yield better hygiene results on-site and having cleaners who have worked a full-day and most likely just want to get the job done to go home will not yield the best results. The potential damage to a brand from poor hygiene post COVID-19 will be almost irreparable. Significantly more than using slightly more expensive but highly skilled external cleaners. The risk of an outbreak that affects your production workers is also minimised in doing so.

These are just a few of the likely changes within our industry that stand-out to us at SKG. None the less, it will be challenging and interesting times ahead. Curveballs will be thrown, as a business, it will be about navigating this inoculation period until coronavirus is resolved.

How will you and your business respond to the immediate future? How will you mitigate risk? How can you improve systems and strengthen your business?

These are all questions that would be a great place to start and help you navigate your way through the awkward transition into the ‘new normal’ Australia will no doubt experience. If you are in the food and beverage industry and are looking to either save money, improve operations and become known for incredible hygiene moving forward, fill out the contact form below.

We can chat about your needs and prepare a free quote for our hygiene services, showcasing how we can save you money with our efficiencies and improve your cleanliness with our expertise.

Thanks for reading, hope you got some valuable insight from this week’s post. If you enjoyed please like, comment or share.